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Someone at this blog asked for my thoughts on JK's latest post GR8 WaterG8, which I had just (an hour or so earlier) read and enjoyed. I also couldn't help notice JK's somewhat chiding reference to "Masonic sorcerers"—a term that first appeared, so far as I know, in the writings of James Shelby Downard, but which I imagine JK associates mainly with myself. Anyway, since the commenter also asked for my own perception of Jake's post, I thought I'd look at it again and see what came up.
I will reproduce the entire post below, in block quotes, with my comments interwoven with JK's. For those who want to read the post as it appears at the blog, the link is above.
In the first paragraph, Jake writes:
The transience of materiality and form unveiled. The eggshell cracks... 911. While watching "Frost/Nixon" (nice OX/OZ in there..) it become clear that the Watergate scandal follows the same pattern one finds in what I have called Mega Rituals. This term 'Mega Ritual' is a massively confusing title with much potential for misunderstanding. Minds with extreme variations of 'external conspiracy' have probably read a few things into the term not intended by this author.
After my last chat with JK (SW podcast # 22/22.5), I did some thinking about JK's decision to emigrate from the waters of paranoid awareness, into his more happy-go-lucky jaunts down the yellow brick road of popular culture in search of the unified theory of cosmic awareness. In our first talk (SW podcast # 7), I had questioned JK's departure from such realms as premature, arguing that an awareness of the darker, conspiratorial aspects of reality was a necessary bridge to the kind of unitive consciousness JK so eloquently advocates at his blog. My reason for arguing with JK on this was partially personal, a matter of predilection, but it also stemmed from an awareness that there were many intelligent and worthwhile folk out there, deep in the trenches of parapolitical research, who simply wouldn't give JK's version of reality the time of day and would consider it so much New Age drivel. This seemed a shame to me, since anyone who looks at JK's work carefully will see it's anything but that.
(JK is a visionary, rare enough in today's world, but especially so in the field of alternate perceptions, a field one would naturally expect visionaries to be drawn to.)
Anyway, after our second chat, it occurred to me that perhaps the reason JK had decided not to use the lore of paranoid awareness as fodder for his galactic Weltanschauung was that he had received some negative feedback in the past, specifically for his description of 9/11 as a "mega-ritual." In fact, it seems highly unlikely that JK wouldn't have received some flak for daring to spin the "tragedy" as part of a "Stargate" global shift of consciousness from local to cosmic and beyond. I know from personal experience how touchy people can be about such matters. JK also mentioned (during his second chat with me) that he no longer felt in any personal danger now that he had moved away from researching actual, temporal conspiracies, into a field so "out there" that it was unlikely to threaten anyone, or to arouse hostility.
Based on this, I wondered if such personal discomfort wasn't partly behind his decision to focus on what interested him most (no, I don't mean Robin Tunney), and leave the nuts and bolts, in-the-trenches work to those of us more temperamentally disposed to it. If so, he is of course more than entitled to his decision; it's only at the point which JK, perhaps without meaning to, has suggested that his position is a movement beyond that of conspiracy researchers, that I feel myself bristling slightly. Face it, JK has not left conspiracy research to enter into the realms of galactic awareness (which after all is non-local), but to fully immerse himself in pop culture, in other words, he has moved further from "reality"—such as it is—not deeper into it. JK's argument is (as you'll see) that there is no conspiracy because everything is the reflection of a single consciousness, and so there can be no "us and them." This is fine, but my argument is that, nonetheless, the world continues to exist regardless of how evolved our understanding of it becomes, and that JK lives in the same world as the rest of us, however his visionary tendencies may allow him to remake it in his own image. To dismiss (for example ) satanic ritual abuse or Masonic Sorcery Theater (of which the 9/11 Mega Ritual is a perfect example) as no longer "relevant" from this unified consciousness perspective is contradictory - surely if JK can analyze Hollywood movies and Robin Tunney shows to map the movement of the divine through the material realm—as intersection points between archetypal and personal consciousness—then he could also do the same with global conspiracies—if he wanted to? The difference, of course, is that people take global conspiracies rather more seriously than they do pop culture, and they will get upset if you dare to suggest (for example) that the death of thousands of people is really just a metaphor for something else… People don't like hearing that a global tragedy was really a mega ritual; they get angry. But tell them that Robin Tunney is a clue to galactic consciousness unfolding in the species, and they could care less. They are either already on your wavelength and will lap it up, or they will have stopped listening before you got to the end of your thesis. Safe ground indeed.
Back to JK's post.
Certainly I have helped sow the seeds of confusion as my belief system has mutated rapidly during the writings at The Brave New World Order and The Blob.
My mind saw a giant conspiracy in the events of 911. Then my mind saw occult symbolism in the make-up of the event; Twin Towers as Jachin and Boaz, Pentagon as Pentagram, George W. Bush reading about Goats (Pan) as the event started...
The assumption was made that if conspiracy elements are associated to the event; building 7 collapsing, free fall of the Towers, no plane wreckage at Pentagon etc.., then the symbolic resonance emanating from the event stem from the same purposeful human conspiracy.
The truth is way cooler then that nasty work of business...
So here's an example: anyone personally involved in researching the 9/11 conspiracy, etc (which does not include myself), is probably going to stop reading JK at this point. Reason: apparently what JK is saying is that he has rejected his former belief in favor of one he considers wider, deeper, and cooler. But surely there are many levels to truth, and finding a new, more complex or sophisticated level (less nuts and boltsy, and hence closer to the abstract, metaphoric core), does not invalidate the previous, lower level of truth but only provides a new context for it. JK is surely aware of this, but he chooses not to describe it thusly, for reasons of his own.
Luckily I decided to investigate pop culture references to the World Trade Center as I was extremely mystified and attracted by all the 911 resonating synchronicties to be found in media. I would at first attempt to fit the old model - giant 'all powerful' conspiracy orchestrating 911 with occult symbolism for nefarious reasons - into the synchronicities. It meant the human conspiracy elements connected to the Mega Rituals had to be part of the production of the synchronicties in the media.
Somebody or some thing involved with the making of "The Lone Gunmen", "Escape From New York", "2001: A Space Odyssey", "Stargate", "World Trade Center", "The Wiz", "Super Mario Bros." etc, was connected to a chain of influence that reached the orchestrators of 911.
This belief has to continually adapt, if it is to survive the pressure of the mysterious evidence of synchronicty, which keeps creeping closer to home and your self.
It's here that JK's approach veers dangerously (though also necessarily) close to solipsism, and even "schizophrenia." I say necessarily, because the visionary or shamanic individual (which JK is) has no choice, in the end, but to acknowledge his or her role as the author of the narrative s/he is investigating. This is because, as JK describes, each of us is a holographic component within an intelligent system, and therefore we are not just part but the whole of that system. Ergo, any unfolding narrative, if traced far enough back to the source, will eventually lead us to the deepest most recondite area of our own being. As above so below: as without, so within. Does this invalidate the idea of an external conspiracy? Sure it does - it invalidates the idea of an external anything. (It also invalidates the idea of a Jake Kotze.)
The nature of the 'somebody' becomes very mercurial and mystical in order for it to continue to be responsible for 911 and its synchronicties. Indeed the 'somebody' responsible for the synchronicities has to become more and more powerful and more and more removed from the material realm. This unveils the truth if you pursue it to its most extreme and logical conclusion, it leaves you barking mad (attached to ideas) if you don't...
Barking mad. Yes. Emphasis on "barking"—a la Alex Jones, who has glimpsed the truth—that the intelligence behind the NWO, etc, etc, is indeed Godlike—omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent—because, yep, that's right—it's God! Only Jones (and so many other nuts and boltsers) still want to fight it! They can't make the leap from the paranoid to the shamanic perspective, partly because they have been inured with a deep distrust of all mystical or magikal ideas by the "Illuminati" themselves, but mostly because they aren't willing, or able, to relinquish their tentative hold on identity, reality, and, yes, sanity, to allow a wider perspective to flood and transform them. JK has no problem with this—he lets go with the best of them. But he may be in danger of losing the baby with the bath water. He may be too ready to make that leap—or rather, too eager. If so, he is going to encounter the pitfalls of premature enlightenment.
Most researchers who include sync patterns and media symbols in there work will eventually evolve there conspiracy theory to include very hard to define 'somebodies' like aliens or trans dimensional beings etc. If not that 'flexible' they might stick with 'practical and material' conspiracies like 'Masonic Sorcerers' working in conjunction with Hollywood and such. Some alternate back and forth, some include everything. A few brave souls admit they don't know what the hell is going on.
Note the (I trust unintentional?) little dig at myself there, a veiled suggestion that a propagator of "Masonic sorcerers" is less "flexible" even than a believer in "transdimensional beings," never mind a galactic hashmuncher like JK. As for the "brave souls who admit they don't know what the hell is going on"—presumably JK considers himself to be in this group, otherwise, why the endorsement? But his blog rarely suggests the deep uncertainty of the unconditionally surrendered. JK has a bevy of devoted fans and followers who do little but shower praise upon him for showing them the way. There seems to be very little by way of questioning or dialogues going on at his blog—presumably because most of the readers there think JK has (or maybe even IS) "the way."
Any story ME/WE tell ourselves will turn out unsatisfactory. No revelation of history or set of future events will bring us peace.
I'm not sure who JK is trying to counsel with this sentence, or why. I suppose the many all-too-serious nuts-and-bolters who think that, if they can crack the riddle of the Illuminati, they will somehow become enlightened in the bargain? But there are other ways to use paranoid awareness that are far less coarse, and in fact are every bit as sophisticated as what JK is doing with his movies and logos. As anyone who follows this blog and the podcasts knows, the narratives I weave from conspiracy/occult/Ufo lore are intended to allow for a better understanding of my own psyche, and by extension, that of the species. There is nothing inflexible about taking historical events and using them to go deeper into the Imaginal realms from which these events emerged. In fact, it's considerably trickier than doing the same using pop culture.
If I have any single criticism of JK's work—and of most of the writers in this field—it is their lack of awareness of human psychology. This prevents their ideas from being grounded, from begin given a context that allows us to practically apply them in our day-to-day life. JK's work would seem to encourage watching a lot of movies and reading corporate logos for hidden signs, and (more implicitly) taking lots of entheogens in order to get on the Synchromystic Stargate wavelength. Of course, JK and I are a whole generation apart, so this isn't necessarily a criticism, so much as the acknowledgment of a difference, even a schism, in our approaches to the Mysteries. Since JK is a visionary, he is temperamentally disinclined to defer to his elders. I can dig that. I was the same way myself at his age. ; )
Only realizing who WE/ME are will heal the wound of separation from Self left by the formation of mind.
The mortality of the Father and Sun King vivified. The eggshell cracks... JFK
It does seem very likely, on the practical form level of reality, that the JFK event, like 911, was part of a orchestrated conspiracy. Either way these are not ultimate truths. Ultimate Truths relate to your real Identity and Nature, not the particulars of the shape and form of reality.
There is no harm in being interested in how JFK's assassination could be a massive government cover up and a Masonic Sun King ritual.
Nice of JK to allow us that.
Of course WE are free to ask questions, doubt official accounts and push the boundaries of how the influence structures of authority interact with world events.
This is exactly why The Blob is interested in conspiracy memes and occult narratives. It has brought me much joy to contemplate how much influence fraternal organizations have had on society, mind and consciousness.
JK's acid test of research is whether it brings him joy or not. Hard to fault that, and I'd be a fool to try. But it puts me in a tricky position, doesn't it. Because if I argue that I can find joy in researching satanic ritual abuse and all the rest, I am setting myself up for some very dubious looks. Yet whose capacity for joy is greater? One thing I can't get much joy out of, however, is crappy TV shows. Life's too short.
Some thoughts I like to play with, of the conspiracy variety..
What does it mean if Freemasons are the first humans to go to the Moon?
Why is there a Pyramid with All Seeing Eye on the back of the dollar bill and what is its significance...
How does the occult interact with Popular culture?
Why does Howard Hughes, Genghis and Kublai Khan consistently reappear in my sync web?
Why does the fringe seem to inform everything consensus is participating in?
Where is Akhenatons Mummy?
These are fascinating but not primary or ultimate questions.
JK has chosen some pretty frivolous examples of paranoid awareness here. He's been careful not to include anything that entails real human suffering, such as the systematic ritualized abuse of thousands of young children across the globe, for example. I wonder why…? I also wonder what JK thinks are "primary or ultimate questions," and why he thinks he has the inside goods on naming them for the rest of us?
If you don't 'know' (it can never ultimately be known) the answer to the who you are, your models for reality will always be incomplete.
Find out who you are first, then return to the 911, JFK and Watergate StarG8 Mega Rituals, if you still care at that point.
The ego and fallibility of the president clearly unveiled. The eggshell cracks... Watergate
Here's the basic flaw in JK's argument: how are we supposed to "find out who we are," if not by using the evidence of the world we live in—the reflection of our total psyches, disowned shadow aspects and all—to do so? By watching movies, I suppose?
So what is a Stargate Mega Ritual?
We will make this a mind object, a concept. Hopefully the slippery nature of our WaterG8 will avoid US - The United States of Consciousness - making it too solid a concept. All concepts and metaphors are gross reductions of the infinite essence of any thing.
If all things are imagined as a Great Spiraling River or WaterG8, Mega Rituals would be huge whirlpools in its ever coiling flow. The flow itself is comprised of twirling mini nebula of thoughts, things and events. What allows there to be flow at all is the pull of consciousnesses, Being, No-Thing or the infinite. The entire river snakes down into the Great StarG8 of the Eschaton. The Eye/I/Self of God.
Inside the ever tightening helix of this WaterG8 are infinite whorls of varying complexity and size. These are things, events, thoughts and conscious consciousness like human beings. Notice how all the whirling entities in the Flow (Wolf backwards) are only temporarily stable and are always recycling themselves. Some whirlpools are tenacious and linger, some are very brief. All are made up of flow and are never comprised of the same material, constant flux recycles all forms.
Ever so often, in mysterious cycles and with increasing intensity, the flow Self organizes into unusually large spinning vortices. Mini StarG8's within the ultimate StarG8' eye/I of God, all non-locally connected as All centers in MOM's heart beat as ONE. All centers are the same center. All are indeed centers.. (keep it quite, that's the secret teaching..)
Through the calm eye/I/Self of these storms sufficiently surrendered facets of Being (such as consciously conscious human nervous systems (many of you reading these words)) can perceive the eternal essence they - the StarG8 eye/I and our own awareness - share. The black hole at the center of the StarG8 is recognized or mirrored in the void at the center of your Self.
All things that gravitate to the center of the spinning mandala are things that share resonance with the unnameable which creates the StarG8 Mega Ritual. In this fashion Masons, architecture, media and symbols, that echo the Core are found as part of the swirling matter surrounding the event (911, Watergate, JFK etc). Imagining a set of things - secret societies, governments, aliens.. (or whatever) - that circle the center cause the phenomena is error of limited perspective.
You will selective identify debris swirling around in the cloud wall, circling forever and ever until you realize all things can never be the Source Itself.
A StarG8 Mega Ritual, like all phenomena is spontaneous and arises out of the eternal NOW.
Seriously it's wild, You, the real You, is exactly what caused JFK, Watergate and 911!
You are the Consciousnesses, Being, No-Thing or Infinite that sits, beyond all flux, out of which ebbs and flows transient phenomena.
If I knew of a simpler way of saying this right NOW, I would.
Don't worry JK, you did just fine. All the fight just went out of me. There's nothing to argue with here. JK nailed it. For now.
America symbolizes one of the sturdiest mental structures in consensus reality.
A male dominated, ego centric and materialist government of disproportionate influence.
An inflexible hard lump (think Nixon) in the Great Spiraling WaterG8 must be eroded in order for flow to be joyous and smooth. The closer the form resonates with the formless, the longer it survives. America, like Starbucks, Monsanto, McDonald's and Oprah can survive, even thrive, if it harmonizes with the Self. Nothing that exists, ultimately, is ever out of harmony (shhh (don't tell!), that's the secret teaching..) with the totality.
Curious, isn't it, how a galactic viewpoint can so easily lead to a disconnection from what IS?
The idea that somehow Starbucks and MacDonald's could harmonize with "the Self" and still exist, in any form at all, suggests (to me) how deeply infiltrated JK's psyche is by pop culture. At this point, having been wooed and wowed by JK's poetic shamanic insights, the only thing I can say is: Jake, GET REAL! Wake up, kid. Camels don't pass through the eyes of needles, and there's a damn good reason why not.
If all is One, Mr. Kotze: try picking your teeth with a chainsaw. Then get back to me.
The Mega Rituals mentioned in this post; JFK, Watergate and 911, massively challenged and changed collective perception about the tenacious whorl called America. By implication and extension challenging the very foundation of consensus reality. What ever isn't in alignment with the Gr8 WaterG8 mentioned above will be swept away or swallowed by StarG8 Mega Rituals.
And let's face it: that means everything. Oh, am I being a pessimist again? I have no doubt JK would say so—or perhaps that I lack the "flexibility" to imagine a world attuned to galactic consciousness in which fast food and chat shows still exist. If so, I'd counter that it has less to do with a lack of flexibility than with an awareness of just how much unprocessed psychic matter there is right now, in the collective unconscious of the species, and just how deeply entrenched in denial your average MacDonald's-munching, Oprah-gazing human being really is. JK seems to think his Stargate paradigm is so transcendental, so beyond comprehension or logic or anything we can imagine, that it's not necessary for us to even think about the mess we are in as a species, because, hey presto, it's all an illusion anyway. Stargate (JK?) is here to save the day! Which sounds suspiciously like New Age-think to me. What JK isn't taking into account is that the more profoundly the signal of truth ("resonating with Self" as JK calls it) becomes in the world, the stronger the resistance of untruth will grow, and consequently the more atrocities will be occurring in the world.
Put simply: things have to get a hell of a lot worse before they get better. This isn't pessimism; it isn't even conjecture. It's energetic fact; no amount of galactic tap-dancing should distract us from it. Never mind what might be, Jake—let's start from what IS.
I believe WE will all be massively surprised in the 'near future' by what structures survive as things align and which dissolve under the pressure of change.
In keeping with the spirit of this change The Blob NOW distances its mercurial form from the term Mega Ritual.
JK has a right to mutate, and even an imperative to do so. But is this just his way of playing it safe?
Its essence will remain in the blanket and flexible term StarG8.
Be Deep Well
Funny, but a deep well is the last image that comes to mind reading JK's happy-galactic gospels. What I see is closer to a tree with enormous, fruit-bearing branches, but whose roots just don't want to go where it's dark and dirty.
That's it. Let me just add that all the above is said with great affection for Mr. Kotze, a man—maddening as he is—who is almost impossible not to love.


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I've made (and am still working on) a Bible program in C++. It has a really nice interface, it let's you search (really fast), and it let's you look up any chapter. It will eventually let you use concordances and commentaries, as well as look up footnotes.
I need a name - a good name. Any ideas? Maybe even something Greek/Hebrew.

subset: commoncrawl


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The January USDA Grain Stocks report has a history of being a market maker, especially in years of price rationing. The report is important to soybeans and wheat, but corn has my interest.
Corn demand can be divided into three main areas: feed and residual; food, seed and industrial(FSI); and exports. Daily and weekly statistics quantify usage for ethanol and FSI, but not for feed. Quarterly stocks reports measure total disappearance, from which FSI and exports are subtracted to come up with feed usage. The big question is whether or not high-priced corn since Sept. 1 (above $7) has influenced demand reduction and how much. Looking at the latest estimate of total usage in the 2012/13 crop year of 11.167 billion bushels, feed usage represents 37.2%, exports 10.3% and FSI 52.5% (ethanol, a component of FSI, is at 40.3%).
If the January report shows demand has not been sufficiently rationed, the market will perceive that prices are not high enough. Exports, nearly half of what they were a year ago, have paid their share, but could be further reduced. This leaves ethanol and feed usage to shoulder the burden. Ethanol stocks data show about one week a month going into storage, so there might be room for downward adjustment. Feed usage could be a curveball.
It's generally accepted that some of the 2012 corn crop was used in the 2011/12 marketing year. That new crop disappearance in an old crop year will be counted as new crop usage in the January report, skewing usage higher. However, if actual stocks reported are higher than estimated, the conclusion will be that price rationing is at work and visions of extremely tight stocks were exaggerated.
"If the January report
A lot rides on the January report. If it's neutral and demand has been reduced but not severely, it may require another report to validate the data. My "pivot" point is a total stocks on hand Dec. 1, as will be reported this month, of 8.103 billion bushels. This assumes first-quarter usage of 1.470 billion bushels for FSI and only 221 million bushels for exports, leaving feed and residual usage at 1.941 billion bushels—115 million more than last year but less than any time in the previous 12 years.
There is the risk that USDA lowers harvested acres or tweaks the yield, as Jan. 11 is the last report where it can revise acres and yields. A change of 1 bu. in yield can influence stocks 88 million bushels to either side. History has shown that in difficult production years, Jan. 11 stocks can change from 200 million to 400 million bushels. This is huge. More importantly, once data is released, traders will extrapolate the implied first-quarter usage and how it influences successive usage for the year to determine an ending stocks number that will suggest either more price rationing or that prices got too high for too long and demand destruction was in process.
Be Prepared. The important thing is to act accordingly with remaining old crop and unpriced new crop. A bearish stocks report of 150 million bushels more than estimated means giving up on holding corn inventory that you needed to sell by March 1. Given market volatility and negative technicals, I oppted to sell (cash/futures) all inventory in the cash market and manage the updside if the report turns out bullish. To bet much of the farm on another drought is stacking the cards against you. Increasing ending stocks also means less acreage is needed for 2013. An increase of 150 million bushels in carryover stocks going into next fall could put pressure on new crop prices in 2013. Ending stocks that reflect higher than anticipated usage require higher prices and another review in the March report, with increasing odds of a price rally. Unless spring is wet, we run the risk of planting more acres than last year, leaving Mother Nature to determine if a "7" or a "4" will be in front of our prices next fall.
Jerry Gulke farms in Illinois and North Dakota and is president of Gulke Group Inc., a market advisory firm with offices at the Chicago Board of Trade. Gulke Group recently published Technical Analysis: Fundamentally Easy. For information, send an e-mail to [email protected] or call (815) 520-4227.


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Tenue du jour / Outfit of the day: "Bare Rose", "Defectiva", "JCS"…
[Click on the picture to enlarge]
Style, Photography: Perry Proudhon
More pictures, review and credits after the jump!
[Click on the picture to enlarge]
Style, Photography: Perry Proudhon
More pictures, review and credits after the jump!
With Halloween fever heating up in Second Life, I thought I'd get in on the act (and make a reappearance on SL Men) with an unearthly outfit that's haunting in more than one sense of the word. I mean - with everyone else dressed as a vampire/mummy/werewolf/witch - surely you want to go to that SL Halloween party in something with a bit more oomph and pizzazz?
[Click on the picture to enlarge]
Style/Photography: Domch Raymaker
June Dion's 'Lich King' outfit was released some time back, but I think it largely went under the radar of most of the fashion blogs at that point. (Then again, it *would* be hard to find another occasion to don this phantasmagoric number apart from Halloween or if you were visiting an RPG-themed sim.)
'Lich King' makes fascinating material for the amateur anthropologist - the horned hat with its twin horns tapering upward like a crescent moon (read: ancient pagan symbol) - seems vaguely Egyptian ; it's almost like an anti-mitre (mitres being those high hats favoured by high-ranking Catholic clergy - the Catholic ones don't have horns, of course). The horns are repeated as a motif throughout the costume - most notably on the shoulders, where they flare magnificently outward, but also at the collar and all around the edge of the cape like a bony frill or ruff, and finally, encircling the waist. The bold colours and geometric shapes of the outfit's utterly opulent textures recall African tribal prints, but the level of detail also makes you think of feel like you're wearing a Medieval English tapestry or Middle Eastern magic carpet, in a weirdly wonderful way! It was this latter consideration that made me opt for a pair of ornate Turkish slippers by way of footwear.
To top off a fantastic outfit, 'Lich King' comes with not one, but three (!) floating skulls that ominously orbit around you like a protective charm or guardian familiar. The vendor board at Barerose doesn't show the floating skulls - a strange omission, because they add so much to the outfit - but that made the subsequent surprise all the more lovely. June's also thoughtfully included a pair of eyes shot through with dancing flames, a crown, and an iron mask (great for Mardi Gras and masque-type events; crown and mask not depicted here). (And for SL Men's female readership - as with many Barerose outfits, June has the female equivalent available too - look for 'Lich Queen' under the 'Gothic' section).
I've chosen a very pale skin to better offset the hyperchromatism of the outfit - Excess' 'Vario' skin from the Androgyne range seemed quite perfect for this purpose. Oh - and for that little extra enchantment, I slipped on one of Ms. Guilaume's mhajik-al rings.
credits after the jump!


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The first Stanley Cup Finals game in New York in 20 years didn't go the way the Rangers hoped.
Backed by a 32-save shutout from Jonathan Quick, the Los Angeles Kings took a 3-0 win in Game 3 and are now just one victory away from their second Cup championship in three years.
Jeff Carter, Jake Muzzin and Mike Richards all scored for the Kings, who needed overtime in Game 1 and double-overtime in Game 2 to win their two games at home. They got a late goal in the first period in this one, however, then scored twice more in the second to back Quick's stellar effort.
Los Angeles can close out this series on Wednesday in Game 4 at Madison Square Garden.
Playing their first home game in the Cup Finals since a Game 7 win against Vancouver on June 14, 1994, the Rangers were hoping a familiar setting would get them in the win column. They were unable to solve Quick, though, and Henrik Lundqvist was victimized for all three goals on just 15 shots.
If New York is to win this series, it will have to do something only four other teams have done in NHL playoff history -- win four straight games after falling in a 3-0 hole.
One of those clubs is the Kings, who rallied from a 3-0 deficit to the San Jose Sharks in the first round of this year's playoffs.


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Evolution Hoax
This 140-million-year-old fossil belonging to the species Archaefructus is the earliest known remains of an angiosperm (flowering plant). This plant is identical to its modern-day counterparts, and its flowers and fruit have similarly flawless structures.
This is a name given to the most common flowering plants, of which there are more than 230.000 species that grow in many environments, even on ocean and in deserts.
Fossils found of these plants clearly contradict the evolutionists' claims. The fossil record indicates that no primitive transitional form has been found for any one of 43 different families into which angiosperms have been classified. This fact was already known in the 19th century, and Darwin called the origin of angiosperms an "abominable mystery." All the research performed since Darwin's day has not been able to offer any evolutionist explanation for the origin of these plants.
With few exceptions of detail, however, the failure to find a satisfactory explanation has persisted, and many botanists have concluded that the problem is not capable of solution, by use of fossil evidence.23
The ancestral group that gave rise to angiosperms has not yet been identified in the fossil record, and no living angiosperm points to such an ancestral alliance.24
The fact that the fossil record of angiosperms reveals no evolutionary ancestor, and that such highly complex living things such as flowering plants came into being all at once is an indication that they were created.
23 N.F. Hughes, Paleology of Angiosperm Origins: Problems of Mesozoic Seed-Plant Evolution, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976, pp.1-2.
24 Daniel Isaac Axelrod, "The Evolution of Flowering Plants,"in Evolution After Darwin: Vol. 1: The Evolution of Life, Ed. by S. Tax, Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1960, pp. 264-274.


text: I don't want to rely on some juice shop to satisfy my smoothie and milkshake fixes. I know my taste buds better than anyone. And frankly, I think I can make a better drink for myself than some hipster kid working his summer job. But I live on a budget, and I have pretty limited kitchen space, so I'm not about to shell out $500 for a fancy Vitamix. Instead, I've been looking at single-serve blenders. They let you make your favorite drink exactly how you want it, quickly, and in a manageable size. Some even blend right inside the same cup you drink out of, so you can run out the door with little to no clean-up routine. I've also found that some of these single-serve blenders still offer a level of control and performance that approaches what you get out of a full-size machine. So they really are ideal for anyone who wants to save money, doesn't have the space for a larger appliance, or just wants blended drinks with less hassle. How We Tested We selected some of the most popular single-serve blenders, or any blending machines that let you blend directly in the same container you drink from. The maximum size of the drinking containers was 20 ounces, and all of them had some sort of lid for transportation. Some of the machines came with larger containers for blending more than one drink at a time, but none were the size of a full blender. We made drinks several using different ingredients -- yogurt, frozen berries, Nutella, ice cream, and fresh fruit -- to gauge varying consistencies and emulsification. We also looked at the size and weight of the machines, ease of operation, and portability. We stayed away from stick or wand blenders, because that's a different category. Photo: Lisa Clarke/FlickrHamilton Beach Single-Serve Blender The bargain of the bunch (by far) is the Hamilton Beach single-serve blender. It's only $20 and it will do exactly what you need in 30 seconds or less, every time. There are only three pieces you need to worry about: the base with the 175-watt motor, the 14-ounce blending container with a built-in blade, and the travel lid. The built-in blade is an added convenience, especially when you want to make a quick breakfast smoothie before running out the door. While that makes it a little tricker to clean, it's not much of a hassle thanks to the wide mouth of the container. Because it's only three pieces, it's also super-compact. This is the best of all the blenders I tested for tiny apartment dwellers with little counter or shelf space. I found the Hamilton Beach made slightly thicker drinks than the others, but all ingredients were well distributed throughout, and the blade did a nice job blending harder foods like frozen berries. My only gripe with the Hamilton Beach is the feel of the jar in my hands. It's a wide container, so it's not your typical tall and thin travel cup, but it will fit in most car cup holders. The travel lid easily snaps on and off, but I feel the slide closure of the drinking spout could be more secure. It's by no means completely spill-proof, but it works. WIRED Easy to set up and use. No parts to change or swap out -- swiftly transition between blending and drinking. Lock indicator tells you if the top is properly secured to the motor base. Cheap! TIRED Wide jar is a little clunky. Sliding travel lid closure could be more secure. Rating: 8 out of 10Cuisinart SmartPower Blender Series The Cuisinart SmartPower machine is considerably more expensive ($70), but it comes with a bigger motor, more accessories, and more options for making drinks. It has blend settings for high, low, and pulse. And you get a bunch of different cups: four 16-ounce travel cups (but watch out when you travel, the lid spout is just an open hole), an 8-ounce chopping cup, and a large 32-ounce blending jar. The two blades can be swapped into all the different blending containers, so your biggest decision will be whether you want to make a drink just for yourself, or a batch of smoothies for the entire family. And if you can't decide, each person can still make their own drink easily. It has more than enough power with a 350-watt motor. However, it is a little on the loud side, and it's one of the heaviest machines in the group. Be wary of its power, though -- blending on low for 30 seconds will give you a super-thin drink, so if you like your drinks thick, you'll get the best results if you reduce the blending time. This takes practice. The chopping cup is also a nice addition to the set, letting you crush denser ingredients, grind spices, and shred leafy vegetables. WIRED A full-service blender, but it takes up half the space of a normal one. Multiple containers and travel cups to blend in. Interchangeable blades. TIRED Heavy base. Louder than the others. Travel cup lids don't close, making them poor travel companions. Rating: 7 out of 10Bella Rocket Blender At under five pounds, the Bella Rocket ($30) is surprisingly light for a 250-watt blender. It comes with both a blending blade and a grinding blade, so you can make drinks and pulverize your coffee beans all with the same machine. It comes with a tall drinking cup and a shorter container that seems best suited for grinding. While it doesn't have a typical travel cup lid, it does come with a "storage lid" that closes entirely over the top of the container, as well as "comfort lip rings" for the cups that make them more comfortable to sip out of. There are also two additional shaker lids with large and small holes. My best guess is that you're supposed to use these shaker lids with cocktails, or to just strain out the larger chunks when you're pouring into another glass, or for any spices or nuts you've pulverized. Regardless, it's a weird choice to include shaker lids with a blender. I would have preferred a real travel lid for drinks instead. But my biggest issue with the Bella is how you start it. There are no settings or controls, not even a single-touch button. You just place the cup (with the blade attached) on the base and twist it to turn on the motor. This wouldn't be an issue if I felt confident the blade and cup were secure in the base. While there are grooves to guide the cup into the correct position, I fumbled with it a few times trying to fit it in. And I only knew I got it right when the motor sprung to life. If you're not paying attention, you'll be caught off guard. WIRED Different blades for blending and grinding. Powerful motor and still fairly lightweight. TIRED So loud. Tricky to fit cup onto base. Lacks a travel lid. Automatic twist-to-start mechanism is awkward -- How about an on/off button? Rating: 5 out of 10Oster MyBlend The MyBlend ($30) looks like a sports bottle -- one of those plastic sippy cups you throw into your bag before a workout. And actually, that's exactly what you'll be able to do with it. Besides being able to hold 20 ounces of your home-brewed protein drink, it has a spill-proof lid that's super secure and able to withstand the rigors typical of backpacks and gym bags. Though the bottle is cool (and BPA-free), it doesn't make the best blender container. The motor is decent -- at 250-watts, it's powerful enough to blend all of my test ingredients well, including frozen fruit, peanut butter, and yogurt. But good luck filling up that cup through the tiny opening. I couldn't avoid spilling everything all over my counter-top while adding ingredients to the Oster's thin, small-mouthed container. Ingredients have to be chopped up smaller than usual, and you can't heap large spoonfuls of Greek yogurt into that smoothie. WIRED Very secure travel lid. Sleek design. Most portable container of the bunch. Strong motor. TIRED Small opening makes prep messy. More difficult to clean, for the same reason. Rating: 6 out of 10Nutribullet While similar to all the other options in its base-blade-cup construction, the Nutribullet ($100) is different -- unlike the rest, it screws and snaps together so securely, it feels like one seamless appliance when you use it. Each of the two blade attachments twist tightly onto the cups and fit into the base without any guesswork. All pieces fit together like a glove. It also has the biggest motor: 600 watts. No surprise, it's the best emulsifier of the bunch. The Nutribullet can crunch and crush all kinds of fruits and vegetables, skin and all, including nuts and seeds. And while that big motor makes it heavy, it's not as loud as I thought it would be. It's a great option for anyone who may not have a taste for fruits or vegetables, but wants to do the right thing by drinking them in a smoothie with other ingredients. You won't bite into a big piece of fruit or an errant nut chunk with the Nutribullet, because it consistently blends a ton of differently textured ingredients into one, uniform drink. Drawbacks? $100 is pretty expensive for this category. Also, it's big, clunky, and not the lightest thing in the world. It definitely requires a semi-permanent space on your countertop. But if you have the room to spare, in addition to a passion for drinks that contain everything in the kitchen, you'll be happy with the bullet. WIRED The most well-constructed piece of machinery in this test. Very sturdy and secure. Blends very well no matter how tough the ingredient, and it distributes everything evenly throughout a smooth drink. TIRED Heavy. Pricey. Has the widest, bulkiest base of all the units tested. Not easily stored away. It's kinda loud. Rating: 6 out of 10Blender Photos by Alex Washburn/Wired


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Ariel Hameon, Science fiction author Thomas M. Disch at South Street Seaport (2008). Via Flickr. June 3, 2008. Some rights reserved.
"This Journal is a memorial. New entries cannot be posted to it." So reads the banner above Thomas M. Disch's Endzone, a LiveJournal kept from April 26, 2006 until July 2, 2008, two days before Disch's death. Disch left behind a prolific output of poetry, criticism, libretti, plays, film treatments, and text for computer games, but it is a series of highly-stylized and vicious fictions presenting a hopeless America as stand-in for mankind for which he is primarily remembered. His novels Camp Concentration (1968) and 334 (1972) are twin high points of New Wave science fiction. The former prefigures David Markson's Wittgenstein's Mistress in its referential narrative; the latter isa scabrous satire of the social novel circa 2025. Endzone does not live up to the stylistic mastery of its precursors; as its author's first encounter with what may be considered a bastard form, it is at times near amateur in composition. It is also xenophobic, vindictive, full of doggerel and despair, and altogether difficult to endure. Despite its shortcomings, though, Endzone should be considered Disch's final work, if only for its brinksmanship with his career-long obsession with death.


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U.N. urged to protect whistleblowers - or pay the price
- Of 300 U.N. employees who reported retaliation%2C only three were validated
- Veteran employee was fired after reporting a large kickback scheme involving his boss
- The State Department was authorized to withhold the money since 2012
The United Nations could lose tens of millions of dollars a year for its operations if it does not create a program to protect employees who blow the whistle on U.N. corruption, an independent watchdog group says.
The Government Accountability Project, a transparency advocate that focuses on the United Nations, has been pushing for years for countries to impose penalties on the U.N. for its failure to create a whistleblower protection program.
An appropriations bill passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law last month by President Obama requires the State Department to cut the U.S. annual contribution to the U.N. by 15% if the U.N. does not establish protections for employees who expose corruption.
Bea Edwards, executive director of the Government Accountability Project, said the new measure is needed because corruption problems at the U.N. are "quite widespread." And the United States, which provides 22% of the U.N.'s total budget and is the largest single donor to the international body, is in a unique position to improve U.N. operations, she said.
The State Department was authorized to withhold the money since 2012, but it has not because it sought to avoid controversy, according to the Government Accountability Project. Under the new law, it must withhold the funds if there is no action.
The State Department says it reviewed the U.N.'s efforts and did join with other U.N. states to request that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon "expedite the development of strengthened protections against whistleblower retaliation," and to create independent ethics offices in every U.N. agency for that purpose.
Exactly how much the U.N. risks losing is difficult to say. The last reliable number for how much the United States gives the U.N. for operations is $7.7 billion, which was given in fiscal year 2010.
The new law requiring a mandatory cut was prompted in part by retaliation by high-level U.N. officials against a U.N. employee who reported a $500 million kickback scheme for the construction of a power plant and coal mine in Kosovo.
"They wanted to destroy me personally and professionally," said the former employee, James Wasserstrom, who had spent 28 years working for the United Nations.
"All major donors (to the U.N.) should demand that the U.N. stop playing around with the words 'anti-corruption' and go after high level officials involved in this," said Wasserstrom, now a senior anti-corruption official for U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department at the U.S. embassy in Afghanistan.
Edwards' organization worked with the U.N. to adopt a whistleblower policy, but the office has failed to take an effective stand to defend whistleblowers who report retaliation, Edwards said. Of 300 whistleblowers who reported retaliation to the U.N. ethics office from 2006 to 2011, the U.N. only only validated three cases, including Wasserstrom's, Edwards said.
Wasserstrom says corruption and retaliation against whistleblowers at the U.N. "is systemic and (involves) collusion at the highest levels to protect the U.N.'s reputation."
In Kosovo, Wasserstrom worked from 2002 to 2008 overseeing public utilities and handling corruption reports, the findings for which he would turn over his findings to the appropriate authorities.
When he received a report that a $5 billion project included $500 million in kickbacks to a list of officials including his own boss and a Kosovar minister, he notified the U.N.'s inspector general at the time, Inga-Britt Ahlenius.
But U.N. police arrested Wasserstom, searched his home and car. U.N. officials posted wanted posters outside his office and he was fired. The U.N. later called his treatment excessive but ruled it was not retaliation.
The U.N.'s Dispute Tribunal, its internal court, found otherwise and awarded Wasserstrom $50,000 in damages. But none of the people who engaged in the retaliatory behavior suffered any consequences, says Dylan Blaylock, a spokesman for the Government Accountability Project.
Edwards said the new requirement will help protect whistleblowers like Wasserstrom, who come forward with suspicions they may not be able to prove and are confronted with an institution that "desperately is trying to protect its senior management's reputation."


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- Home
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- Police
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- Prescription Drug Drop-Off Program
Prescription Drug Drop-Off Program
The Dakota County Sheriff, Attorney, and Environmental Management Offices, along with the Burnsville Police Department, have teamed together to offer the public a place to safely and anonymously dispose of prescription drugs.
For drop box locations in other cities visit the Dakota County Sheriff's Drug Drop-Off website.
Burnsville Drop Box Temporarily Removed
In order to comply with recent recommendations regarding the COVID-19 virus, the Burnsville Police Department has temporarily removed the prescription drug drop box effective March 14, 2020.
Burnsville Drop-Off Location
Bring household medications, including prescription, over-the-counter and pet medications to:
Burnsville Police Department
100 Civic Center Parkway
Burnsville, MN 55337
The lobby contains a designated drop box that residents can access 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
If the drop box is full you cannot leave the medications at the Police Department -- you will need to come back another time.
How to Drop Off Your Medicine
- Drop-off is safe and anonymous. No ID is required and no questions will be asked
- Use a marker to cross out your name on the medicine containers
- Keep creams, gels, liquids and powders in their original container and place the container in a clear plastic bag (bags are available at the drop-off site)
- Pills in bottles should be emptied into a clear plastic bag. Write the name of the medicine on the bag and take the empty pill bottle home for disposal
- Pills still in blister packs and medicine that is no longer in its original container should be placed in a clear plastic bag. Write the name of the medicine on the bag
- Place plastic bags with medicine in the designated drop box
Examples of Accepted Medication
- Blister packs
- Capsules and pills
- Creams and gels
- EpiPens
- Inhalers
- IV bags
- Liquids
- Patches
- Powders
- Tablets
- Vials
Items That Are Not Accepted
- Needles
- Sharps
- Fever thermometers
- Medicines from businesses, including health care facilities, long-term care facilities, pharmacies, doctors offices and veterinary clinics
Needles, sharps and thermometers can be brought The Recycling Zone in Eagan (3365 Dodd Road, 651-905-4520) for free, environmentally safe disposal.
For questions after 4:30 p.m. and on weekends, please call the Dakota Communications Center at 952-322-2323.
Additional Resources
Information on prescription drug drop-off locations from the Dakota County Sheriff
Prescription drug resources are available at the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids website


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The Western Apicultural Society held its charter Annual Conference in 1978. The goal of the society is to provide educational information on honey bees and beekeeping to their members and anyone else who wishes to join the Society or attend the Annual Conference.
Conference coordinators, frequently affiliated with research institutions, try to find venues geared toward minimal walking, roomy locations for exhibitors' displays, comfortable accommodations for both presentations and lodging, all at a reasonable price.
Presenters at the Annual Conference include beekeepers explaining beekeeping in the local area, university and government laboratory honey bee researchers, and others affiliated with bee products, such as apitherapists.
WAS does not become involved in honey bee politics. Since many of the members are non-commercial beekeepers, they do not desire to have the Society involved in issues that may impact the livelihoods of commercial beekeepers. Those with strong feelings about political issues also are members of state and national beekeeping organizations.


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Billy Hertz of Gallery Hertz is known for his ability to draw great artist to his gallery for exhibits. This past Sunday, Mother's Day, May 13, 2012, he had two artists that were a Motley Crew, Tom Bartel & Rachel Clark.
Bartel is world known for his quirky "interpretation of the figure", and his ceramic work, earthenware w/vitreous slip and copper oxide, are masterfully created to perfection.
Bartel relayed to me some information about the time he was invited to demo at the NCECA conference. "It is the super bowl of ceramics" This was in Portland Oregon in 06. He created the human head lying in its side, and explained that, "it is a mix of an Olmec, "colossal heads" and a doll. The horizontal position allows for questions such as is it sleeping, dead, in a dream- like stage, and leads to psychological territories.
I asked Bartel why he chose ceramic sculpting over any other art form. His response, "because the material responded to me. It's like an alchemy, when you hope other things will happen in the kiln, and it's where I can communicate my ideas the best."
Paired with Bartel is painter Rachel Clark. Clark's use of color and brushwork is equally quirky in her interpretation of art. The play on colors and layers were humorous, intentionally and beautifully done.
I asked Rachel to pick out her favorite and she chose "Pink Scream" "It started out as a blind singer, later the googly eyes were added. The scream looks horrific, but strange, it represents awkwardness, haunting, and strangeness. Me: "And the pinkness what does it represent?" Rachel: "It represents feminity and layers."
It seems Clark likes layers; her paintings are all about them…each one having dual meanings.
The exhibition runs until mid- June.
Galerie Hertz
1253 South Preston Street
Louisville, KY 40203
Tuesday-Friday 11 am-5 pm Saturday 11am -3 pm and by appointment
Hertz Gallery has a new email address: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Reinventing Latin: Oscar Stagnaro on the Paquito D'Rivera/Berklee Latin Jazz Program
Paquito D'Rivera moves seamlessly through different styles of music. From classical to jazz and Cuban to Brazilian, this clarinet and alto saxophone virtuoso knows no boundaries. Students will be treated to his expertise when the Paquito D'Rivera/Berklee Latin Jazz Program launches July 6-10, 2014, adding to the robust complement of the college's summer programs. The Cuban-born D'Rivera will serve as the program's artistic director, bringing his style-blending approach to composition and his pure love of music.
This intensive summer program will feature Berklee faculty who are leading Latin music educators and a packed schedule of lectures, small-group instruction on individual instruments, ensembles, jam sessions, and a final concert. The program is open to all instruments and students ages 15 and up.
The program's academic director, Oscar Stagnaro, views the new program as a big step forward in his mission to introduce more students to the history, varied styles, and pleasures of Latin jazz. The Peruvian bass player—a professor at Berklee since 1987—beams as he describes the heart of the new program: his old friend and bandleader, D'Rivera. Stagnaro discusses the inaugural program in the interview excerpts below.
The summer program is centered around famed Cuban musician and composer Paquito D'Rivera. You've played with him since 1992. What should students expect?
"He is a great inspiration and a very generous guy in music and life. That personality comes across with the first step when he comes into the room. He fills the room with joy and respect. He has the kind of personality that helps you to improve and that makes you more certain that what you're doing is the right thing. I couldn't think of a more important lesson, especially for a young musician."
What do you think makes him so unique as a musician?
"Paquito is a virtuoso on both clarinet and alto sax and in composition from classical to jazz. He doesn't have any boundaries like, 'This is Cuban and this is Brazilian.' The way that he composes, he uses all these influences in his music. So he has a different perspective on music, which is much more broad than many people would label what we call Latin jazz these days."
What does D'Rivera stress in his music and instruction?
"With Paquito, it's passion, seriousness, and respect for what you play. He jokes around but when he's on stage, he's like a doctor doing surgery. Serious, high-class fun, but when he plays, it's no mistakes. He has perfection in mind. But at the same time, it's fun. He welcomes you to his house when you are on stage with him. Right away, with the first bars, he's like, 'Welcome to my house.' I don't know how he does it. Some people have that kind of charisma that invites you in. You feel like you are a team and you feel like you are all together."
Watch Paquito D'Rivera discuss teaching at Berklee in this video:
How will the Latin Jazz Program be structured?
"The schedule will be two hours in the morning of lecture on the history of Brazilian music or Cuban music or Latin American music. Teachers will come in to teach the history because it is super important to have an idea of how the music of all those countries emerged. That's 9 to 11. And then 11 to 1, we'll have groups with the different instruments. If I get eight or 10 bass players, I will get them together in a classroom and teach styles according to our repertoire for the concert. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday will be classes and Thursday will be the final concert. In the afternoon, we'll have ensembles from about 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. So, each of us, the five faculty, will have one ensemble. And 6 to 7, we will have lectures with Paquito. He will talk about technique or composition or how to study or what to study. And at night, 8 to 10, there will be two ensemble rooms for jam sessions. It is going to be a full day."
Do you have certain songs that you want to work on with the students?
"Songs? No. But styles, yes. We'll work on styles from Cuba, Brazil, and Latin America, of course. But also, we expect some students to bring their own music and then put it together here. That is also super important to encourage composition. And they'll have the input from the faculty here to help them."
For the younger students, this may be their first chance to hear from touring musicians and to learn about the life and the work involved, no?
"Yes, that is the other side of this: the professional side. You are going to come here and grow as a musician and grow as a composer and as a professional. Your skills are going to improve. You are going to have materials to learn, to study for the whole year, at least, or many years. And you're going to see people from all over the world playing together. I think you always have to lead with the example of what to do so when you teach someone you don't have to say anything. You do it without words. You show the example of respect, ethics, and professionalism when you are playing."
I would think having that lesson as a young musician would be amazing.
"Yes, that will stick with them forever. Especially when you see it in (D'Rivera) because he is such a great player that you are really inspired. He started playing when he was three-years-old, and he will tell you that he studied and he practiced and he read. But it's not like magic. It takes a lot of work and he's going to say that. He still practices. That may be the message that many people don't get. To get something, you have to work a lot. It's not like it comes easy. It comes easy after you work a lot."
Do you think students are missing out on Latin jazz now?
"Yes. But I don't like the term Latin jazz because it implies just Cuban music. Paquito has kind of a new Latin American thing that anyone from any country can participate in, not just Cuban and Brazilian students. We can mix all these different ideas and styles from all over: Colombia and Peru or wherever, and we put them all together in a tune or in a group. One of the concepts for a band to be successful is in the orchestration. It's not only the performance and how well you play but also, do you have a new sound as well?"
What is your dream for this program?
"I hope we have something like 50 new Latin jazz groups from the students, that everybody writes tunes with these styles, and that a creative and refreshing wave of new music comes from this."
Learn more about this summer's Paquito D'Rivera/Berklee Latin Jazz Program here.


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Delivers excellent image quality
Fuji's entry-level CSC gets more affordable
Impressive performance, Outstanding detail and ISO performance
Great value, good image quality, broad choice of lenses
Delivers some of the best image quality we've seen for less than $1,000
Excellent high ISO images, 5.5fps shooting
Smaller, lighter and significantly cheaper
Excellent high ISO noise performance
Touch-screen operation is seamlessly integrated
World's smallest DSLR, Truly compact body
Small body size, Touchscreen
Very small and light with good grip for small to medium-size hands
Excellent compact system camera
Excellent low-light AF performance, Stop motion intervalometer
Excellent screen, Digital filters, Built in Wi-Fi
Good image quality and noise control
Deliver better photo quality than its predecessor
Outstanding build quality
Fast hybrid AF with on-sensor phase detect points
Excellent in-camera Raw conversion
Fast performance, very good picture quality for its class
Full 1080p movie recording with stereo sound
Good viewfinder, Pleasing handling, Impressive focus performance
Decent image quality, raw capture option
Produces excellent photos
Superb high ISO image quality
Capable of excellent performance
Compelling mix of intuitive handling, impeccable image quality
Excellent OLED electronic viewfinder
Picture Effects, Low light performance
Comfortable handgrip and handling
Good image quality
Attractive price, APS-C image sensor
Strong stills, weak video
Image quality is excellent
User interface is perfect for consumers stepping up from P&S digital cameras
ReviewGist helps you find the best products to buy by making sense of online reviews.
We are currently aggregating 376,500 reviews
covering over 29,474 products.
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3mm Quiksilver Wetsuit Booties
Order Now: $39.95
The Quiksilver Syncro booties are nice and stretchy and feature sealed seams to keep the cold water from trickling in.
The reinforced toe & heel caps will ensure years of use, while the textured sole will keep you gripped. 3mm Boots are good for water temps in the 60 degree range.
*Size Note: If you wear a half size, choose smaller (ie) 10.5 should buy size 10 (more . . .)


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Waka Flocka Introduces His New Artist "Tay Don" (Bricksquad Monopoly) [Label Submitted]
"Waka Flocka Flame introduces rapper Tay Don, his first artist on his label Bricksquad Monopoly. Many people remember artist Tay Don as producer Tay Beatz, one of Waka's producers. With 2 successful mixtapes circulating on the internet. Death of Tay Beatz (The Rise of Tay Don) and Death of Tay Beatz 2 (Tay Don's Day of Wreckoning), you can expect to be hearing more from him soon. You can find Tay Don on Twitter @TAYDON1017"
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
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Staff Picks: Our Valentine's Day Dream Dinners at Home
Of all the date nights in the year, the Valentine's Day date night comes with especially big pressures. Where will you get a reservation? Will you even get a reservation? Do they even take reservations? Ah, geez. To avoid all the fuss, we're tempted to just stay in and make a lovely meal at home. You can own the table the whole night, and nobody will judge when you open a third bottle of wine. Here are some of our favorite recipes for Valentine's Day dinners at home.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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Following my decision to share most (if not all) of the materials from the tech stuff I read, today, I'm sharing something I came across on Chris Dixon's blog via the Startup Digest Reading list. It's a topic that resonates with me even because I'm currently stuck working for another man but I have plans regarding establishing my own startup.
I hope it's a good read.
I talk a lot to people who are deciding between startups and established companies. They're usually early in their careers and have been exclusively affiliated with well-known schools and companies. As a result, they're accustomed to praise from family and friends. Going to a startup is scary, as Jessica Livingstone, cofounder of Y Combinator, describes:
Everyone you encounter will have doubts about what you're doing—investors, potential employees, reporters, your family and friends. What you don't realize until you start a startup is how much external validation you've gotten for the conservative choices you've made in the past. You go to college and everyone says, "Great!" Then you graduate get a job at Google and everyone says, "Great!"
But optimizing for external validation is a dangerous trap. You're fighting over a fixed pie against well-credentialed peers. The most likely outcome is a middle management job where you'll have little impact and never seriously attempt to realize your ambitions. Peter Thiel's personal experience illustrates this well:
By graduation, students at Stanford Law and other elite law schools have been racking up credentials and awards for well over a dozen years. The pinnacle of post law school credentialism is landing a Supreme Court clerkship. After graduating from SLS in '92 and clerking for a year on the 11th Circuit, Peter Thiel was one of the small handful of clerks who made it to the interview stage with two of the Justices. That capstone credential was within reach. Peter was so close to winning that last competition. There was a sense that, if only he'd get the nod, he'd be set for life. But he didn't.Years later, after Peter built and sold PayPal, he reconnected with an old friend from SLS. The first thing the friend said was, "So, aren't you glad you didn't get that Supreme Court clerkship?" It was a funny question. At the time, it seemed much better to be chosen than not chosen. But there are many reasons to doubt whether winning that last competition would have been so good after all. Probably it would have meant a future of more insane competition. And no PayPal. The pithy, wry version of this is the line about Rhodes Scholars: they all had a great future in their past.
Great institutions can prepare you for great things. Credentials can open doors. But don't let them become an end in themselves.


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Friday's insider-trading charges against the founder of Galleon could be the tip of the iceberg, writes Allan Dodds Frank. Other hedge funds and the McKinsey consulting firm face scrutiny.
The case brought against the founder of Galleon Management and its technology hedge funds Friday, alleging more than $20 million in illegal profits from insider trading, is more than a shot across the bow of a company named for a ship favored by pirates.
The hedge-fund industry is a big money game that thrives on personal connections, immense compensation, and almost no regulation in any jurisdiction. As SEC enforcement director, Robert Khuzami said of the lead defendant in this case: "He is not a Master of the Universe. Instead, he is a Master of the Rolodex."
Kumar's sin is magnified because he comes from the firm famous for its holier-than-thou attitude. McKinsey consultants are imbued with a culture of keeping their clients' identities and activities confidential.
So this case—which uses wiretaps as if the fund was a Mafia crew—is startling because it could trigger investigations around the world about how Galleon funds made investment decisions and huge gains in China, India, and elsewhere in Asia and Europe. And since Preet Bharara, the newly appointed U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, says the investigation is ongoing, it is quite possible that other funds and high-ranking corporate tipsters may be implicated.
This case is even more startling because it alleges that the hedge-fund guys penetrated the heart of the American establishment and corrupted it. If the charges are true, who knows how much of $1 billion or more earned by 52-year-old Raj Rajaratnam, the managing director and founder of Galleon, is tainted?
And if the charges in two criminal complaints are true, Rajaratnam, who initially made his Wall Street name analyzing high-tech investments for a brokerage called Needham & Co., may be the first crook ever caught suborning a senior partner at McKinsey, the consulting firm that claims to have worked for 70 percent of the Fortune 500.
Anil Kumar, the 51-year-old McKinsey director in the spotlight, expressed "shock" at being arrested on conspiracy and securities-fraud charges that could send him to prison for 65 years. Out on a $5 million personal recognizance bond secured by a Santa Clara, California, house he and his wife own, Kumar is a two-decade veteran of McKinsey and is regarded as one of the firm's leaders in knowledge process outsourcing. That means, among other things, he may tell his clients how to move work offshore or which companies to buy to handle such tasks.
His lawyer, Charles Clayman, tells The Daily Beast: "He was as shocked as everybody that knew him. He is a very decent and very honorable man with a wonderful reputation. Mr. Kumar has faith in the American system of justice, in his lawyers, and that in the end, the truth will prevail, and he will be found not to have been involved in the activity alleged in the complaint."
In what may turn out to be an understatement if a criminal trial reveals much about the inner workings of McKinsey, Yolande Daeninck, McKinsey's spokeswoman in North America, said the firm is "very distressed" by Kumar's arrest. She told The Daily Beast that McKinsey has not yet been contacted by authorities but will co-operate fully with investigators. Kumar, she added, has been "placed on indefinite leave."
A former McKinsey veteran tells The Daily Beast that to become a director, Kumar must have had dealings with 50 companies or more during his tenure. No doubt, those publicly traded companies will now be wondering what Kumar and his teams might have leaked. I would not be surprised if corporate counsels of McKinsey clients begin re-examining suspicious patterns in trading of their own stocks.
Kumar's sin is magnified because he comes from the firm famous for its holier-than-thou attitude. McKinsey consultants are imbued with a culture of keeping their clients' identities and activities confidential. As a result, McKinsey consultants routinely are entrusted with confidential information originating from the absolute top of many companies.
McKinsey's deep insights into corporations are unparalleled because they are built on trust and the notion that McKinsey's hotshots are management gurus, rather than dealmakers. They advise on how to run and structure companies and executives trust McKinsey with their secrets.
As a former 20-year-veteran of McKinsey tells The Daily Beast: "The culture is: You do everything to protect the clients and I think people really believe that. That is why you never see a McKinsey consultant quoted."
Another stunned McKinsey alum tells The Daily Beast: "This is a firm that is totally driven by ethics. They are inculcated from Day One. Marvin Bower (the McKinsey partner viewed as the creator of the modern firm) must be spinning in his grave."
And even though the case began during the Bush administration, it could be an early hallmark for the Obama administration widening its attack on greed on Wall Street.
McKinsey has 16,000 employees, 400 directors, and offices in 50 countries. In its 85-year history, none of its consultants, until now, have been publicly linked to any sort of white-collar crime. Now the firm will have to prove to its customers that Kumar—if guilty—was operating as a lone wolf.
(One McKinsey consultant—Sandra Boss—had the misfortune of having married the fake Clark Rockefeller and suffering through the kidnapping of her daughter, Snooks, while another former McKinsey star, Jeff Skilling, made his way into ignominy later as the CEO of Enron.)
Today's McKinsey director in question is no ordinary consultant. Kumar is regarded as a pioneer at McKinsey in their global practice of knowledge-process outsourcing. The wiretaps quoted in the criminal complaint seem to show that the tidbits Kumar fed to Galleon's captain in the summer of 2008 were not garden-variety stock-market tips. It was more like the quality of information one might get at the top of Goldman Sachs or from a company's board or from a head of state.
Kumar is charged with leaking information that prompted Galleon in three weeks to buy 5.25 million shares of Advanced Micro Devices, the struggling competitor of Intel, the world's largest chip maker.
Specifically, on Aug. 15, 2008, Kumar is alleged to have told the Galleon boss on his cellphone: "I think you can now just buy." Kumar's information was that Abu Dhabi was going to invest $6 billion to $8 billion in Advanced Micro Devices and that the deal would be announced, perhaps by "the week after Labor Day."
Kumar later informed Rajaratnam the AMD deal would go down Oct. 7, 2008—the date it actually occurred. Part of the deal was a reorganization of AMD that involved spinning off a significant division and getting some permissions from IBM, another company with a senior executive charged with leaking to Galleon.
The complaint is not specific about any compensation Kumar may have received, except to say that Kumar was a direct and indirect investor in Galleon's technology funds.
So for the hedge-fund guys accustomed to not justifying the lucrative fees they charge investors—often 2 percent upfront annually, and 20 percent of the gain—there may finally be a day of reckoning.
And even though the case began during the Bush administration, it could be an early hallmark for the Obama administration widening its attack on greed on Wall Street.
And for McKinsey, it will be a troubling time as it seeks to comfort its many clients, since as a McKinsey veteran tells The Daily Beast: "It is the first blemish they have ever had. I am sure there was a lot more confidential stuff going on than what Kumar may have released."
Allan Dodds Frank is a business investigative correspondent who specializes in white-collar crime. He also is president of the Overseas Press Club of America.


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Play one of the classic Gardenscapes games in all its hidden object puzzle glory!
Play one of the classic Gardenscapes games in all its hidden object puzzle glory!
Big Fish is encouraging everyone to #PlayApartTogether in the fight against Covid-19.
Experience incredible storytelling as you complete beautiful puzzles! See why jigsaw players love this intriguing series.
Welcome to a kingdom frozen in fog and waiting to be revealed through merges at every turn!
Prep, cook, and serve tasty food to earn achievements while you grow a restaurant empire across the globe.
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Embark on an exciting MATCH 3 journey to save the kingdom!
Merge pieces to solve puzzles & save the town. It's a fun new twist on merging!


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Yanks GM: Possible A-Rod could miss entire season
Recommended Video:
NEW YORK (AP) -- Yankees general manager Brian Cashman says it's possible third baseman Alex Rodriguez could miss the entire season while recovering from hip surgery.
Cashman says "there's no guarantees in this stuff" that Rodriguez will be able to play this year.
The 37-year-old Rodriguez had surgery on his left hip last week. The team said the rehabilitation time was expected to be six months, which would sideline the star slugger until the All-Star break.
On Friday, Cashman said it was possible A-Rod could be out all year.
"Yeah," Cashman told WFAN radio. "I think because (of) the serious nature of the surgery and the condition that he's trying to recover from, you know, there is that chance."
"I can't say it's not possible that he won't be back," he said.
The Yankees signed free agent Kevin Youkilis during the offseason to play third base while Rodriguez is out.
Cashman said Rodriguez is doing everything "in his power to put himself in the position to get back and be healthy and productive."
"Best case scenario, yeah he should be back," Cashman said. "Worst case scenario, he won't be back, or there might be something in between."
A 14-time All-Star, Rodriguez hit .272 with 18 home runs and 57 RBIs in 122 games last year. The three-time AL MVP was benched in three of nine postseason games and pinch hit for in three others, batting just .120 (3 for 25) with no RBIs in the playoffs.
Rodriguez had surgery on Jan. 16 to repair a torn labrum and reshape a bone to alleviate an impingement. He has 647 career homers and is due $114 million over the next five years as part of his record $275 million, 10-year contract.
NOTES: RHP David Robertson and the Yankees reached a one-year deal, avoiding arbitration. The reliever had asked for $3.55 million and the team offered $2.85 million.


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FSF submits comment in USTR Special 301 Review
Like we mentioned yesterday, we filed a comment in the U.S. Trade Representative's Special 301 Review.
The Special 301 Review is a process that the USTR undertakes every year to review the enactment and enforcement of copyright, patent, and trademark laws throughout the world. The office then produces a report placing countries on a Watch List—or even a Priority Watch List—if the USTR feels the laws and enforcement aren't forceful enough.
Traditionally, this process has been tailor-made for the big copyright industries. They submit long comments detailing exactly how they want other countries to be as deferential to them as ours is. As a result, the final report has been a diplomatic tool that the U.S. government uses to encourage foreign countries to enact laws that are as outrageously bad for freedom as its own, like longer terms for copyright protection and DMCA-like legislation.
Our comment tells the USTR that this cycle can't go on. These laws compel computer users into making unethical choices and hinder the development of free software worldwide. And that's bad for trade, too: commerce suffers as device manufacturers are prevented from using free software, and free software conferences move elsewhere to avoid legal trouble for attendees. The USTR shouldn't be pushing for these laws, whether through the Special 301 Report, trade agreements like ACTA, or other means.
You can read our comment online. The deadline for submitting comments has been extended to 5:00 PM US Eastern Time (22:00 UTC) on February 18th, so if you haven't already submitted anything, there's still time to have your say. Just follow the instructions on the USTR site to let them know how restrictive copyright laws hurt free software, and everyone suffers as a result.


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An experimental technique seems to be freeing some kidney transplant patients from having to take anti-rejection drugs.
Researchers transplanted certain cells from the kidney donor's bone marrow along with the new organ. Five of eight transplant recipients who tried the method so far were off immune-suppressing medication up to 2� years later, the researchers reported Wednesday.
The preliminary results were considered important enough to be published in the journal Science Translational Medicine even though the study still is under way, because the technique worked for patients who didn't have well-matched or related donors.
The idea is that if a sort of twin immune system takes root and lasts, it can allow the patient's body to accept the foreign organ and not attack it, said study co-author Dr. Suzanne Ildstad of the University of Lousville. Scientists call it chimerism.
"The most reliable indicator of really being successful at taking someone off immune-suppressing drugs is durable chimerism," says Ildstad, who teamed with doctors at Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital for the research.
Transplant recipients usually must take multiple immune-suppressing pills for life to prevent rejection of their new organ. Those drugs cause lots of side effects, such as raising the risk of cancer and kidney damage.
Other scientists are attempting to tap bone marrow to induce immune tolerance, with varying success.
Ildstad's approach transfuses a special mix of bone marrow cells including blood-producing stem cells and another type named "facilitating cells" that are thought vital for a successful transplant. She filters out still other cells that can become too aggressive and cause a life-threatening disorder named graft-versus-host disease.
Transplant recipients had radiation and chemotherapy, not destroying their own bone marrow but tamping it down to make space for the donated cells, explained study co-author Dr. Joseph Leventhal, a Northwestern transplant surgeon. Five patients who had the dual immunity a year later were weaned off all drugs. Two others whose hybrid immunity faded are faring well using a low dose of one anti-rejection drug. One patient needed a repeat transplant after an infection and didn't get to try weaning.
Much more study is needed to find the best approach but "the results are striking," Dr. Tatsuo Kawai of Massachusetts General Hospital wrote in an accompanying editorial. He is part of a team that in 2008 reported the only other success with a small number of mismatched transplants.


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Roku Announces New Streaming Stick
Roku announced on Tuesday the launch of a new Streaming Stick which appears to be taking Google's Chromecast head on. The new device is not much larger than a USB flash drive and connects directly to a television through an HDMI port, bringing streaming media to your TV through a small, hidden package.
The Roku Streaming Stick also comes with a remote control similar to the existing Roku boxes (minus a headphone jack), and a Micro-USB connector for power. It also gives you access too all of the 1,200 streaming media channels that Roku has to offer including YouTube through 1080p and supported by dual-band WiFi.
Compared to Google's Chromecast this adds a remote, more channels and an extra $15 is cost for the device. The only thing it really can't access that Chromecast can is your Google Play media …


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Offensive pressure
'Caps prepare to host San Jose at BC Place
In our last game versus Portland we were able to control the game by putting their defence under pressure and creating turnovers that gave us good possession in their end. That helped us control the first half.
It's the same thing we have done consistently at home and we need to establish that against San Jose.
By putting the opposition on the back foot early, it helps establish our high tempo game that other teams find hard to live with.
The Earthquakes have not done well on the road and will not be comfortable playing on our turf. Getting after them early and often will only put more doubt in their minds and give our 'Caps a chance for an early breakthrough.
Second balls
Wondolowski heads in a long ball against Chivas USA
Many teams have diverted away from the classic 4-4-2 formation, but San Jose continue to use it, and for the most part it has worked really well for them
What make it effective are the options they have in the two striker positions: Alan Gordon, Steven Lenhart, rookie Adam Jahn, and last year's golden boot winner Chris Wondolowski.
All these strikers are 6-feet or taller and like to play physical. With that advantage, the Quakes will look to hit long balls up to them and then try and win the flick-ons or knock-downs. This is where we can nullify one of their strengths by winning those second balls which will limit the opportunities they have going forward.
They also like to play with two wide players, who will look to get as many crosses into the box as possible for their big targets. It will be important to cut off this supply to limit their chances.
Jun Marques Davidson sent off against Philly
It will be another tense Western showdown with San Jose desperate to keep up in the very tight playoff race.
The Earthquakes are very athletic and could be looking to make this a physical game and try to get under the 'Caps skin. We will have to remain disciplined and play our game, because we are at home and right now our players should be thinking we are the better team.
The last two performances have been very strong and we need to build on that. Against Philly we played really well but a rush of blood cost us as we could not overcome playing with 10 men for over 80 minutes.
We kept our heads against a fired-up Portland team last weekend. The Timbers started out by being very physical to try and get us to lose our composure, but no such luck.
It will be important to stand up to San Jose and battle with them, but remain calm and keep 11 men on the field. Do this and we have to be very confident of getting back to winning ways.


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If you grew up in the 90s, odds are you spent countless hours enjoying the glorious original programming of Nickelodeon. While shows like The Adventures of Pete and Pete and Salute Your Shorts were definitely staples of my sophisticated Nickelodeon line-up, Rugrats was my rock. The animated series provided a goofy—and at times incredibly odd—look at life through the eyes of a group of toddlers. The loveable characters made for can't-miss TV, and now Funny or Die has put together a rather disturbing trailer for a live-action version of the show.
The trailer takes the Requiem for a Dream approach with Rugrats and turns them all into psychopaths. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and Parenthood star Mae Whitman plays Angelica (obviously), and she's joined by Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development), Michael Angarano (Almost Famous, Red State), and Whitman's Parenthood co-star Sarah Ramos. Hit the jump to watch the incredibly dark trailer.
Via Funny or Die.
Here's the opening of the real Rugrats, which is only slightly different:


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- This event has passed.
Strong Bones
December 30, 2019 @ 10:30 am - 11:30 am
An event every week that begins at 10:30 am on Monday and Wednesday, repeating until March 30, 2020
Event Navigation
Instructors: Dawn Franceschetti and Rebecca Griswold. Strength and balance program for older adults. Appropriate for sedentary or active individuals. Participants must wear clean sneakers. Location: Grace Cottage Community Wellness Center, 133 Grafton Rd./Route 35, Townshend. Cost: $3/class. Pre-registration required: 802-365-3649.


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A VisitBritain campaign based on the legend of the Loch Ness Monster is returning with a new set of monster-hunting tips to inspire European visitors to visit Inverness and Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands outside of the summer season.
Latest figures released by VisitBritain show strong growth from markets including the US, Germany and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the first quarter of 2016, underpinning the best ever first quarter for total inbound visits.